Chapter 99: Feathered Wings

The City of Townsville. Suburbs. The House.

06 MAR (Monday) 1989. 1528.

The moment General Blackwater pulled up his humvee at The House, stopping his entire motorcade of two other Humvees and an APC, Bunny got out of the front passenger seat and ran towards the garage. She had been worried about one other thing during the trip. Pressing the door button, the garage shutter began rolling up, but it was slow and it'd kept Bunny in suspense, so much so that when she was able, she ducked under the garage shutter so that she could see.

She had expected it to be gone forever. She remembered the crash on the highway, the high impact force, and the violence involved. But then there it was, standing by the family sedan, all fixed up and ready to go. It was her motorbike. She remembered metal denting and machine breaking, and yet here it stood, in one piece, as if never violated by that crash on the highway.

What was more, Blossom was standing beside it, along with a pail full of gray water. She had been cleaning the engine of the motorcycle when Bunny came in.

Bunny was stunned. Why would she be doing anything for her after the hostilities of the previous day?

"Hey, Bunny," Blossom said, sounding a little dejected, if contrite. "Listen, I-"

"Well, well, well," General Blackwater had come through, interrupting Blossom. "If it isn't that little bike. Looks like motorpool really did pull an all-nighter fixing it up for you, under my orders of course."

"General Blackwater!" Blossom gasped; she didn't expect the general to be visiting so soon. He had never really visited before Bunny came along, but it seemed as if he was here almost every other day ever since she came into the picture.

"Bravo-Four-Seven. Otherwise known as Blossom Utonium," the general said sternly. Blossom knew what it meant. Bunny had such a good impression of the general that she didn't think anything was going to happen. "Since you're here, I might as well spill it. Your performance has been terrible, your strategy and tactics substandard. A mule would make a better leader than you." Putting a hand on Bunny's head, he went on: "I've just promoted Bunny here to the rank of provisional corporal. She'll be acting as your second-in-command from now on. You keep this up, Blossom, and soon she'll be replacing you as the leader of the Powerpuff Girls, and you'll be listening to her from then on."

Bunny stared at Blossom, uncomfortable that General Blackwater had put down Blossom in front of her, all to prop her up. It wasn't what she wanted; in fact, it was the very last thing she wanted. Blossom's smile had faded long ago. There had been sunshine and rainbows in her, but now it was gone, replaced by more storm clouds. Blossom stared at Bunny as though she had committed the gravest act of betrayal.

"Yes, General Blackwater," Blossom said emotionlessly and monotonously, while her eyes were still fixed on Bunny's, at risk of emitting a pair of heat beams.

"Good. Oh, and by the way, I'm putting you, Bubbles, and Buttercup back on duty starting tomorrow. The police want to continue working with the three of you - for some reason," the general said before turning around and leaving. But before he completely disappeared through the shutter, he took one sideways glance at Blossom, pinning her with his eyes, before going away forever, leaving Blossom and Bunny alone.

Bunny folded her arms and hunched her back, suddenly feeling a cold, but it was more of a feeling of vulnerability more than anything. Before her stood an angry Blossom but was worse was that she had been so close to reconciliation - again. It felt as if whatever hope there was of a wholesome sisterly relationship between them was dashed - along with both Blossom's dignity as the leader of the Powerpuff Girls, and her chance to live the life of a normal little girl.

"It isn't what I want," Bunny said. "Blossom, please don't be mad."

"I've washed your bike. I thought I'd do something nice for you," Blossom said, with none of the joy that usually entailed such a task. "Have fun with it." And with that, she took off and floated away with her pail and rag in hand.

"Blossom, please! I'm sorry!" Bunny pleaded desperately with her, but Blossom didn't stop; she had either ignored her or didn't hear altogether.

The City of Townsville. Suburbs. The House.

06 MAR (Monday) 1989. 1613.

After encountering Blossom's cold temper, Bunny had also no luck engaging Buttercup after that. She continued to hide in the walk-in closet, obsessively whispering about 'a friend' and holding onto 'Blankie', and when Bunny opened the door and sat in the walk-in closet to join her, she was almost immediately shooed out - and that was Buttercup being nice. Bunny was just glad that she was beaten up and cast out of the dark closet for her trespasses. Was it a sign that Buttercup was mellowing out and beginning to tolerate her? Bunny could only wait and see.

Bubbles, as usual, was there to save the day. Dragging a dejected Bunny out into the snow-covered backyard, wearing their winter outfits, they played with the slowly-diminishing stock of snow at first, throwing snowballs at each other, building a snowman and even a snow fort, like what Bunny always wanted to do, but the biggest attraction was her continued lessons on flight.

"You know, Blossom, Buttercup, and I used to play with the snow a lot," Bubbles said, just before they started.

"Really?" Bunny couldn't believe it. She'd hardly seen them do that, though she had some ideas as to why.

"We've changed, I guess," Bubbles said, then smiled. "But I'm glad I got to play with you!"

"Me too," Bunny said, before giving her a warm hug. With how cold it was, it felt good, but the fact that at least one of her sisters actually wanted her to exist felt way better. They got to work on the flight lesson after that. Bubbles would demonstrate with some tricks she'd learned here and there.

She kicked herself off into a floating position before lifting herself up further, putting extra strain on the 'wings' on her legs. Her leg would be surrounded by a bright blue light that day, to demonstrate that the energy ought to be released from the legs. When she started flying in circles, she did the same thing, forming a bright, baby blue streak far more luminescent than usual, expending much energy. Bubbles then repeated this, but with her arms, showing that the thrust could come from any part of the body. She would then demonstrate how, through the use of both the arms and legs and even the hips and back, how flight control could be achieved.

She was like an angel, flying like a dove on wings of blue light…

"Just point your feet at wherever you want to leave! And point your arms at where you want to go!" Bubbles shouted down from a floating position several floors up. Bunny nodded, and after bending her knees to an almost crouching position, she sprung up high into the air like some overamped rabbit. But something was wrong; the X-thrust in her feet wouldn't last. She couldn't see any light emanating from her feet. She would have fallen had she not done a 'double-hop' in mid-air, pushing herself to greater heights.

But she wasn't flying, and when she started falling again, she got afraid and applied the same X-thrust, effectively doing a 'triple-hop'. Bubbles had to catch her before she fell, latching onto her back and giving her the mid-air buoyancy she was so desperately trying to achieve.

"It's okay to be afraid," Bubbles said. "I think that's how I learned how to fly fast. If you're afraid of falling, you won't fall, I guess…"

Bubbles stuttered after that. She wasn't sure how to describe the feeling of flight any better. For a moment, they hovered in mid-air as Bubbles thought of a way. "Urm… It's like you have to keep your legs stretched, like before you're going for a jog? Only, not too much, I think."

The City of Townsville. Suburbs. The House.

06 MAR (Monday) 1989. 1652.

While Bubbles was teaching Bunny the art of flying, Professor Utonium and Sergeant Goodwin had been watching from the balcony. They huddled together, in each other's arms, as they watch contentedly their meekest children being themselves and enjoying the moment.

"Aren't they beautiful?" the professor said as he gave Selicia a smack of his lips on her cheek.

"Yeah, Bunny's going to need it. She hasn't been having fun lately," Selicia said. "Good for Bubbles, I guess, for doing her job as an older sister. I just wish Buttercup would do something like this a little more often."

"You still haven't forgotten about Bubbles' drug problem, have you?" the professor said. "She's working really hard to avoid 'His Secret' - too hard, I think. I wish she'd talk to me more about it."

"She nearly killed you," Selicia said. "I can't forget that. I can't forgive her, either, no matter how much I try. Alcohol doesn't work either. I'd have to drink myself to death before it can change my mind about Bubbles."

"She was manipulated, sweetheart. You know how children are - they shouldn't be out there, for the same reasons why other parents don't leave their children alone whenever they go shopping in the mall," the professor said. He held her hand, squeezing it. "I don't blame you for being mad at her even after all this time. I think I would be too… If Bubbles tried to kill you - drugs or not. Love can blind you sometimes."

And Selicia had nothing to say to that. Beyond the surface, the professor still had no idea what she really thought of the Girls. She was still a woman full of mysteries. The professor had heard the stories, that she used to be a jewel thief coming close to working for the Foundation on a permanent basis only to be recruited by the Organization of the past. Even now, after living with her for a few months, he hadn't learned nearly enough. It was only because he was so smitten with love that he'd decided to jump the gun and get hitched with her.

Speaking of getting hitched…

"How are the cards coming along?" the professor asked.

"I've already mailed them out," Selicia said.

"I didn't think you meant it literally when you said you'd do it 'ASAP'," the professor said, surprised. Out in the backyard, Bunny continued to blunder in her attempts to fly, but at least she hadn't fallen flat on the ground yet. Instead, she was launching herself in random directions as she attempted to exert a constant X-thrust, only to fall short and end up with more mid-air hops instead, though the purple light emanating from her feet seemed to be shining longer with every next explosion of energy.

"The cards should be in the hands of our guests by now," Selicia added.

"Whoa. Just whoa. That's really 'ASAP'," the professor said, even more surprised. Selicia had started work on the cards two days ago, when they came in by delivery, and she had only started work on them at night back then. "But… how?"

"I got my friends in the security department to deliver the wedding cards," Selicia said. "The midnight shift security detail brought it back to HQ, and the administration department handed them out when their shift started in the morning. It must be news to them - the lecherous Selicia doing the impossible: getting married. Imagine the surprise."

"I guess that's one advantage of being an outcast. You don't have to mail those cards out to the far reaches of the planet. Sure makes planning the wedding easier when everyone I know comes from the USDO," Selicia went on.

"That makes the two of us…" the professor mumbled, his mind wandering back to his family, somehow, even when he'd said so many times that he would have nothing more to do with them. They were a proud military family. His father, Caleb Ulysses Upton, was in the USMC. He'd fought in World War Two, the Korean War and the Vietnam War and only retired by the end of it. His mother had served as a nurse in World War Two before becoming a typist in peacetime. She knew the horrors of the war against the Nazis, and nothing would shake her belief that wars, battles, guns, armies, and violence were necessary to turn the tide against evil. As for him, Thomas Lewis Upton - he resented it all so much that he had been called a disappointment all his life, even when he'd practically become the Einstein of his generation, standing next to the likes of Stephen Hawking, James Watson, and Francis Crick literally and figuratively.

Even Eugene Abraham Upton, his dearest brother, would eventually learn to hate him. For almost two good decades, they were inseparable; they were each other's best friend. Whenever one brother faltered, the other would pull him up. Thomas would help with his homework and Eugene would help him fend off the bullies. Thomas would verbally summarize Eugene's textbooks for him while Eugene would coach him in athleticism. At high school, Thomas was once beaten up and left for dead in the countryside by a group of hooligans without even the clothes on his back to survive with. Eugene would singlehandedly round them up, threaten them with pa's old revolver even if he could go to jail for it, before finding him and bringing him back, sick and a little worse for wear, but alive. Thomas would then repay the favor by helping Eugene win the heart of his future wife, helping him with the gestures, the little gifts and lines of poetry, and even setting in motion 'coincidences' that would force them to meet. Thomas would even help plan his dates. Eugene, being basically Tarzan in real life, would have been lost without him.

For a while, Thomas had like Eugene for who he was - a bit of a hippy, a wildman, and almost insane to the extreme as an anarchist. But as time passed, he began drifting towards his father and by the time the US entered the Vietnam War, he was already neck-deep in the muddy slosh of the military. The last time they were face-to-face, Eugene had called Thomas, in no uncertain terms and using the exact words, a coward, a hypocrite, a useless pacifist, and a traitor who should be shot. They'd fought and of course, Thomas lost that fight despite being the older brother. They never spoke again after that. They didn't even write to one another, and it had been more than two decades since the professor had cut all ties with his family. Sure, he'd met and written to his parents a few times after that, but those were as rare as solar eclipses.

And even now, Professor Utonium had no intention of ever introducing Blossom, Bubbles, Buttercup, Bunny, and Selicia to his biological family, not during the wedding, and not even after that. Not ever.

The City of Townsville. Suburbs. The House.

06 MAR (Monday) 1989. 1659.

Bunny was still confused by Bubbles' instructions, but with time, she was starting to get it. By 'stretching her legs', Bunny realized that Bubbles meant exerting her legs. By 'wishing to be able to fly like Peter Pan's friends', Bunny realized that she meant focusing her mind and intention. Now, it was only a matter of practice, but she was making progress - the last time she tried flying on her own, she was able to push herself straight up for a minute before losing control. She'd let herself fall that way so that Bubbles could catch her.

"Okay, Bunny. Push yourself up like the last time, just keep that same feeling in your legs there, and don't forget to put your hands up, you know, like when you're jumping with joy!" Bubbles instructed her younger sister while she was still carrying her, holding her waist from behind. Bunny struggled to understand her instructions and how it related to controlling her Chemical X2. Blossom was better at teaching, but with the rift between them that was widening, she wasn't an option. "Don't be scared. I'll stay with you so you won't fall all the way down to the ground."

But she was getting used to Bubbles' expressions. On the other hand, Bunny enjoyed Bubbles' company. She didn't want to fail her because of how much she cared about her.

Bunny began flying again, straight up because it was easier without having to worry about control. Her X-thrust was weak at first, but she was just warming up. Soon, she was shooting upwards, slow compared to her smaller elder sisters, but she was beating her own record. Soon, she was flying for a minute, then one and half. It became two, then three. Looking down, she could see the whole neighborhood, the houses and vehicles getting smaller and starting to resemble toys.

"I'm doing it! I'm flying!" Bunny exclaimed in joy. 'Jumping with joy' was right, and now she was flying with joy.

"Great! Now push your legs back just a teeny weeny bit!" Bubbles said. Bunny did not understand at first, but she decided to try something - anything she thought was right - just so she could taste the drug of progress and triumph again. Even completing missions didn't give her the kind of innocent euphoria that finally learning something about flying did.

Bunny curled her legs up. Both of them screamed when they started plunging downwards at high speeds.

"Put them forward! Your legs - forward!" Bubbles screamed in shock. Bunny undid her stance at first, but it did nothing to slow her ascend. Then it suddenly clicked in her, and Bunny put her feet forward. This slowed her descend, and soon, they were ascending again.

"You did it! You're learning how to control yourself!" Bubbles praised her again. From then on, it was smooth sailing from there. Having learned her lesson from their near-disaster, Bunny changed her stance much more gently from then on. A slight curl in her legs was enough to direct the force she was exerting on herself to cause her to descend. A few degrees forward did the same when it came to ascending.

Furthermore, she had learned by accident how to control herself using her arms and the rest of her body. Bubbles had been right; fear of falling had been the trigger, and with some practice, she had learned to harness it to help control the forces the rest of her body was giving out. Most of this was upward forces to buoy her up. With enough flight time, even her arms were helping with forward motion and directional control.

After that, after interpreting Bubbles' instructions once more, which were becoming easier to understand, Bunny learned how to float on the spot, as if a swimmer treading water in the middle of a lake.

'It's the same as flying, but easier,' Bubbles had said. 'Just don't push so hard, and open up your legs - it helps with balancing so you don't turn upside-down!'

Before long, Bunny and Bubbles were flying side-by-side, though Bubbles had to keep slowing down and Bunny had to keep trying to catch up. Neither of them minded though; they were just having fun. Before the training started, Bunny had this overwhelming fear of flight. Now, she didn't want to go back down. But all good things had to come to an end; flying was tiring, after all, a drain on her already-diminished Chemical X2, and Bunny finally touched down like a Harrier Jump Jet.

"Hey, Bunny, you wanna hover all the way to our room?" Bubbles offered.

"Sure," Bunny was all too happy to accept it, so together, they floated their way through the back of The House and into the living room. Bunny was still unsteady as she was still learning how to control herself, but she was leaps and bounds better than she was just an hour ago.

By this time, Dad and Mom were already in the living room, just in time to see Bunny hovering in proudly, triumphantly. Dad had been reading a science journal, and Mom the newspaper.

"Aw, isn't that sweet!" Dad said. "Bubbles' stepping up as an elder sister, and Bunny's growing up so fast!"

"Yes, it is," Mom agreed, though the look she was giving Bubbles didn't convey the same meaning.

"Look, Dad, I'm flying!" Bunny exclaimed excitedly, happy that Dad was proud of her. She accelerated towards before stopped in front of her and letting herself fall into his lap. She landed heavily there, thankfully without her armor, weapons, and gear, but the professor still had to stifle a shout of pain.

"Good job, baby Bunny," he said, at first smiling bitterly from the pain, but when it faded, it was one that spread from ear to ear. Then something came to mind, something very important. "You know, I have a surprise waiting for you down in the labs. My, you're all sweaty - how about if you wash up a little and come join me downstairs by my desk? And take your time - give your slow and plodding old man a fighting chance!" the professor laughed. Putting Bunny on the floor, he began walking towards the airlock leading into the lab.

Bunny wiped some sweat off her brows. Dad had been right - she was all sweaty. She had been having so much fun that she had forgotten just how exhausted she was.

"Listen to your Dad. Run along now," Mom said. She had just started reading the newspaper. Not wanting to disappoint her, Bunny flew towards the second floor, trying her best not to blow a hole through the ceiling by carefully exerting herself. But something was wrong. Bubbles wasn't following. She turned to look and saw that Bubbles was still on the first floor. Bubbles was looking at her too but then gestured for her to leave her behind. When she was done, she climbed up the sofa and embraced Mom while she was still reading and wasn't paying her any attention. Mom, instead of returning the gesture, threw Bubbles aside but didn't so much as paid more attention to her than the newspaper.

Bunny retreated deeper into the overlooking corridor before either sister or mother could look up at her, afraid that she might somehow offend either of them. It was strange, the way they interacted. Shouldn't Mom be showing Bubbles some affection?

Regardless of whatever answer she might find, understanding their odd behavior would have to come later. She still had to follow Dad's orders and find the 'surprise', whatever it might be, waiting for her downstairs.

Walking towards the washroom, Bunny found that walking now seemed slow compared to flying, or even hovering, so she kicked herself up into a floating position once again before hovering towards the washroom. She was aching, but the thrill of flying more than made up for it - that was until she was about midway towards the washroom, she started feeling a sharp pain in her chest, and she collapsed on the floor, on her knees.

Bunny couldn't help but cough dryly, each cough harder than the last, hacking. She felt like vomiting, but with lunch many hours away, there was nothing to vomit. Holding back the gag reflex, she coughed one more time and felt something spattering her hand. Withdrawing it, she saw spatters of blood. She could taste it in her mouth, metallic and bitter. Bunny froze. She felt as if she was being watched. Looking all around her, however, she saw nothing. Afraid that someone might see her like this, she ran the rest of the way to the washroom and locked the door behind her.

Setting up a stool, she looked herself in the mirror to find blood dribbling down her lips, down her chin. Shocked, she washed both her hands and face. She coughed again, and whatever blood that remained in her mouth was spat out. She washed her mouth, and when she spat the water out, it'd come out reddish and ominous. Bunny gasped. What's happening to her?

Dad. He would know! Running out of the washroom, Bunny descended the stairs, then down to the labs. When she reached the foot of the stairs, she could see Dad in the far end of the large laboratory, putting something metallic and thin on a pedestal, which was standing on a table. Confused, she walked up to him, and he smiled back at her. When she'd reached Dad, he picked her up and sat her down on the table, right beside the pedestal holding the metallic strips of… something.

"Do you know what this is, Bunny?" Dad asked her. Bunny shook her head, confused. The professor picked it up, showing the curvature of the metallic strip, and the metallic wires lining one side of the strange device. Also, there were two of them. "These are what you call braces. They're for your teeth - they'd make them straight and neat, just like your sisters'. I've been drafting a new design specifically for you. Your toughness would make normal braces useless as they wouldn't be strong enough. Normal braces would eventually bend and break instead of setting your teeth straight."

"So I've added reinforcement to the structures here - and I've swapped the metal for Duranium," The professor continued showing Bunny his invention, pointing out the different parts of the braces. "It's going to cost a bomb, but if the USDO is willing to approve of hair-styling scissors made of Duranium, I'm sure they'd approve of this. All I have to do is send my little prototype here to the Institute, and they'd hammer out a Duranium copy of this. You could be wearing your very own braces by the end of the week!"

Bunny smiled, but it didn't last long. The fact that she had coughed up blood earlier was still fresh on her mind. The professor saw this and wondered what was wrong.

"Bunny, listen," he went on, before putting a hand on her chin and turning her head up so that they could make eye contact. Putting both his hands on her shoulders, he went on. "Yesterday was a close call. W-when I saw you yesterday, all bloody and unconscious in Lieutenant Blake's arms, I thought I'd lost you. I wanted to cry and scream - but you were alive. You're a survivor, you tough little nut, and so I helped you along the way."

"I- I'm sorry you have to bear this responsibility. I'm sorry that I created you to act as- as cannon fodder in place of your elder sisters. I've been remarkably selfish - I'm sorry for everything," Dad confessed, tears prickling his eyes and overflowing. Bunny was shocked that someone so strong like her Dad could cry.

"But I'm not sorry," Bunny struggled to speak. "I want to protect you, and Mom, and Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup."

"Just… be careful, okay? Don't forget that you still have to come home to the family you're protecting," Dad said, sniffling and managing to finally bring his emotions under control. "I don't know what I'd do if I lose you too. I think I'd die of grief. Every single time you go out, I feel like I'd go insane…"

"Dad, I…" Bunny wanted to finally talk about her coughing up blood, but stopped short of it. How Dad would react to the news, she didn't know now. The professor waited, but nothing came out.

"You were going to tell me something, sweetie?" he prompted Bunny.

"Nothing," she finally said. "Just… Thanks, Dad."

There was no point in telling him about her bloody coughs. Besides, if she could recover from major surgery in half a day, what's a little cough?